Striking the Interest of A Devil

Yi Huo returned with Shang Yan Fei, the leader of Shang Clan and one of the most notorious figures within Southern Border. Renowned for his striking looks, and even more for his ruthless nature.

In order to secure his position, he forced two of his brothers and a sister to take their own lives. The man truly had a reputation for being as vile a demon to anyone who crossed him - when a distant clan had dared to attack one of his caravans, all the clan elders advocated he leaves them be on account that it wouldn't be worth the time or resources. However, he didn't listen, he personally took an immense expenditure out of his own pockets to annihilate the clan. Every last member, the men, the woman, and even the children, were killed. And then their skulls were piled into a gruesome monument in front of the once-doubting elders. With an iron grip on power, he consolidated the Shang Clan under his personal control.

Not stopping there, he subordinated hundreds of other clans. Through his talent for business, the Shang Clan's caravan had grown threefold under his leadership. He was a leader who appointed those based on merit, not even his own children were spared from such practices. Shang Yan Fei had even reduced the number of young master positions from fifteen to ten, showing his uncompromising stance on excellence. If there was one person who was considered the most powerful mortal in the Southern Border, it was undoubtedly him.

Xie Ling sensed the weight of Shang Yan Fei's sharp gaze on him, as if he were a mere insect under a magnifying glass. Internally Xie Ling smiled, it was rare to see another hunter. However, sadly this hunter would only reach four out of ten points. The Shang Clan leader's voice dripped with disdain as he spoke, his words piercing like the sharpest of blades. "Rank-4 peak stage, yet clearly under his thirties," he remarked, sizing up Xie Ling. "I've heard that you only recently emerged from your secluded cultivation. If I may, what inheritance did you gain?"

Xie Ling paused for a moment, weighing his options. Should he appear like a fearful youth with a hint of bravery and daring? Or should he choose a more composed demeanor, one that might reveal his inflexible nature? In the end, he opted for neither, instead projecting an air of wisdom and reserve, befitting that of a sage.

With a light bow, Xie Ling addressed Shang Yan Fei. "The inheritance I gained is known as the 'Mind's Eye'," he explained, his voice calm and measured. "It enables the user to detect falsehoods and deceit. This is how I was able to locate all the rocks containing Gu." He reached into his sleeve, retrieved a rock, and tossed it to Shang Yan Fei. "Unfortunately, I did not come across any blood path Gu, but I did manage to obtain a wisdom path Gu."

Xie Ling's approach proved to be shrewd, for it allowed him to achieve two significant objectives. Firstly, he demonstrated that either his inheritance truly granted him the power to perceive Shang Yan Fei's blood path cultivation, or he possessed exclusive and invaluable information, such as Shang Yan Fei's blood path cultivation. Secondly, he conveyed his non-discriminatory stance toward blood path cultivators.

Wei Yang was infuriated by Xie Ling's audacious remark and was about to reprimand him. However, Shang Yan Fei raised his hand to stop him, his face heavy with a frown. "If you were threatening me, you would have sent a Message Gu instead of confronting me directly. Therefore, I can only assume that you have come to me in the hopes of collaborating," he declared.

Wei Yang and Yi Huo were caught off guard when Shang Yan Fei didn't deny his blood path cultivation, essentially confirming it. Wei Yang was about to interject and implore him to deny it, but instead, Shang Yan Fei's hand shot up with killing intent. Just as he was about to kill both men for knowing too much, Xie Ling intervened by flicking his fingers to damped their protective measures while also casting an emotion path killer move called "Susceptible Mind," causing them to fall into a deep slumber.

As Xie Ling used the killer move, he noticed that one of his Gu was on the verge of collapsing. However, he quickly took action and swapped out the Gu with another one, this caused the other Gu to lose sync, the killer move was about to collapse when Xie Ling pushed his will inside the Gu to the extreme, causing all the Gu to reach heightened state, ensuring the success of the killer move. But at the cost of each of them receiving minor damage.

"Losing such valuable pieces would be a waste," Xie Ling said calmly while cupping his hands. "Since it was my fault that they found out, it would only be fair if I took care of it. I'll erase this event from their minds, like it was nothing."

This startled Shang Yan Fei, even causing him to take a step back in defense. Two of his elders, one rank-3 and another rank-4 were taken out in an instant.

Xie Ling rose his hands showing his lack of interest in fighting while stating, "It's quite impressive how a lack of defense against emotion and information path methods can leave one completely open to attacks of all sorts."

Narrowing his eyes, Shang Yan Fei moved his eyes switching between his men and Xie Ling, before slowly relaxing. He sighed, "Alright then, you've my attention. Let's talk business." he proclaimed with a grin.